New issue of SSPA Highlights

I believe it has been a long time since we last faced so many big, global challenges. We are facing a changing climate. We are facing political situations creating uncertainty in many countries. We are facing the potential for an escalating trade war between the economic superpowers in the world.

Most of these challenges affect the maritime sector, and some of them possibly present a bigger challenge for maritime business than other sectors.

Personally, I believe that the hardest will be how the shipping community solves the environmental requirement set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for all international shipping by at least 50% before 2050.

There is still an open question surrounding how we can solve this, and I don’t think anyone currently has the answer. However, I am convinced that the answer will not be one big-fix solution for the problem, but rather several small, efficient solutions that combine to achieve the required levels for reduced emissions.

SSPA wants to be a part of the solution, and we will be dedicated to optimising maritime systems for a reduction in GHG emissions now and in the future. We believe strongly that a very good first step towards meeting the objectives is to reduce fuel consumption.

This edition of Highlights contains articles that address research results on how to reduce the environmental footprint from shipping. The result may not be ground-breaking, but it shows that there are several actions that we can take.

Another area that the IMO and other international maritime organisations are focusing on is how to improve safety within maritime operations. This is also an area where many small steps will add up to a big change. SSPA is devoted to being part of the development to ensure and improve safety at sea, which is why you will find several articles describing, in a broad sense, how we can assist the maritime sector in improving their operations safely.

I hope you will find some articles to catch your interest. Pleasant reading!

Stefan Eliasson
President & CEO

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SSPA Highlights - No 66 2019 Contents 2 Skin Friction database for the maritime sector 4 Route optimisation based on AIS tracks in the Baltic Sea 6 Defining normal ship behaviour and safety distance to other ships in open waters 8 Logistical consequences of the Gothenburg container port conflict 10 Implementing S1000D for Swedish military assault and support crafts 12 Thorough model testing required to make cruising in tough environments sustainable 14 Manoeuvring and seakeeping simulations, and the importance of high-quality data Download the issue